


The Colour of Life

by TheSchimmer



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Alpha Derek, Artist Derek Hale, BAMF Lydia Martin, BAMF Sheriff Stilinski, BAMF Stiles, Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Banshees, Beta Cora Hale, Beta Peter Hale, Beta Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Good Peter Hale, Jewish Stiles Stilinski, Kitsune, LGBTQ Jewish Character(s), Lawyer Peter Hale, M/M, Protective Sheriff Stilinski, Rebuilt Hale House, Romance, Sarcasm, Sassy Peter Hale, Sheriff Stilinski Knows, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is Noah, Slow Burn, Stilinski Family Feels, Synesthesia, Wendigo, Werewolves, puca
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23311738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSchimmer/pseuds/TheSchimmer
Summary: Stiles always saw things differently to everyone else. He sees everything in colour and light. Every minute of every day. He sees the wonder and beauty of the world and uses that to protect everyone he knows.This is an adaptation of one of my Story ideas that I posted to do with Stiles' and his unique ability to see and connect everything that he sees.
Relationships: Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Cora Hale/Lydia Martin, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Isaac Lahey/Malia Tate, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes
Comments: 26
Kudos: 175





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles always saw things differently to everyone else. When he was younger he thought that everyone saw what he saw and understood the world he did. His mother called him special, unique and gifted. Others had called him odd, stupid, spastic, weird… you name it, Stiles was called it, even at a young age. Everyone told him to shut up because they couldn’t understand him as he babbled on about seeing all the colours and would randomly jump from one thing to the next. He didn’t let it get to him- his mum said he was special and that was all he needed to know.  
Then his mum started to get sick. He knew before she did. He saw as the colours around her head turned from lavender to sickly green and black. He told his father and mother. They knew did would be able to detect the change, and he was right. She had frontotemporal dementia- she was dying and there was nothing they could do. He saw as her beautiful lavender and pink mixed with blue started to change and shift becoming ever more sickly green, mustard, puce and black. He would visit her every day and some days it was a bit better. All until the final day. He came into the hospital and wandered to his mother’s room. Going through the hospital hurt his head and eyes, seeing all the pain and the hurt and emotion caused a throbbing in his head. Though every so often he would see the bright flash of pure gold as a new life come into the world. Reaching her room he saw that whilst there are still remained two small filaments of lavender connecting his mother to him and his father the rest was now angry puce and black. He knew she would die today.

“My little Mischief. I want to say goodbye, one last time. And then you have to go, I won’t let you see as I die. I know your gift allows you to see it as it happens but I don’t want you to see your own mother as she dies. Goodbye Mischief and be good for your dad, make sure he doesn’t lose himself and make sure he stays healthy and doesn’t eat or drink too much. I love you both very much.”

Stiles gave her a hug and kiss before he walked out with tears in his eyes. That was the last time he saw his mother and was the last time he ever mentioned his gift.

±

Stiles grew up, he looked after his father and looked after them both. He stopped his father drinking and learned to cook and clean whilst his father dealt with his grief. Two years passed after his mother died and their relationship repaired itself. It was the Stilinski men against the world.  
Stiles never talked about his gift again and learnt never to show or talk about everything he saw apart from his dad. Stiles was 14 when he asked his dad if he wanted to see what he saw in the world; he was expecting a drawn picture of an abstract notion of what his talented son could see. He was wrong. Stiles took his hand in the middle of the street. John looked around seeing the most beautiful colours. Everything, people, objects, plants, the entire world connected in stunning ethereal and infinite connecting strands of colour and light. The power to see everything about the world, see its infinite connection and emotion and wonder, full of pure magic and creatures of stunning beauty and horror. His son’s brain was a wonder, a pure thing of such complexity and understanding, his son was a genius without any limit.  
“You see that?”  
“Every minute of every day”  
“You see that every day, you don’t have ADHD do you?”  
“Nope” replied Stiles popping the ‘p’ at the end  
“You just can't express it, you see everything. Every tiny detail of every tiny creature and object. All of it.”  
“Yes,” replied Stiles somewhat sadly, but then cheering up, “It is pretty useful sometimes, I just can’t talk about it because otherwise, people would think me mad. So instead I just let them think it is ADHD. I can see the connection between everything, they just assume it is a hyperactive mind. Which I guess it is. Just it makes logical sense to me.”  
“Let me tell you, son, you are amazing and special, don’t anyone ever tell you otherwise. You are the light of my life and I love you.” He pulled his son into a bone-breaking hug as he said this before taking them both to the diner for curly fries.

±

Freshman year was the first time that Noah asked his son for help. He knew his son could see the connection that he couldn’t in a murder case in nearby Beacon Glen. Mother killed, Father with an alibi, the two son’s at school at the time of the murder.  
“Stiles? Can you come down here please?” he yelled up the stairs  
“What you need Daddio?” asked Stiles as he came into the kitchen, no flailing limbs insight. Stiles when at home was pretty normal and wasn’t as flailing and accident-prone as he was at school, he said it had something to do with emotional backlash from being around teenagers all day.  
“I need your help with this case. Murder, no suspect, no motive, no connection. We both know that is impossible, you especially. Can you come to the station and help me?”  
“Sure Pops, let me get some shoes on.  
Twenty minutes later saw Stiles behind a mirrored glass wall with his father whilst Deputy Haigh interviewed the father again. Stiles put his hand in his fathers and push what he was seeing into his father  
“Can you tell us what you had done that day and where you were at approximately 12:30 pm?”  
“ We had been talking about taking a holiday with the kids to go to Wahington on a camping holiday” the man immediately flowed out yellow light into the air. Lie. “I took Jason and Ed to school and then I went to work. Maggie stayed at home. When I came back at 3 I found her dead in the kitchen.” another burst of yellow into the air tinged with green. Lie.  
“You see what I see? He is lying. He is full of jealousy and hate. That right there is your killer. Check his schedule, bet he missed that meeting or did it via conference call. Check his phone if he doesn’t have a conference call via Skype I am blind, which we both know I am not.”  
Noah looked at his son and nodded. Pressing the intercom.  
“Mr Lewis, where did you say you took this conference call?”  
“My office,”  
“Officer Haigh, I need a consult” Haigh got up and came out and round into the room.  
“ His alibi doesn’t check out with what he just said to us. Arrest him for the murder of his wife, you know what to do. My guess at a motive is a jealous husband with a cheating wife or similar.”  
When Haigh had left to arrest Mr Lewis, Noah turned to his son,  
“Thanks, Stiles you have been a great help today. I couldn’t have done it without you”  
“It’s fine Pops. Glad I could help you get the body. Can I have pizza?”  
“I will never figure out how you got from murder to pizza.”  
“Well…”  
“That was rhetorical!!!”

±

Sophomore year was another adventure entirely. Stiles had learnt never to help or interfere with his dad’s work unless asked. He knew it could get messy after the last time someone tried to stab him as he helped his dad with a string of thefts. During freshman year he had come to be known as a genius if a hyperactive teen with a knack of knowing everything about someone or something with barely a glance. Whilst Jackson was still an arsehole, Stiles had become best friends with Lydia; she found his genius and gossip collecting skills to be of great interest. Also, the fact that actually, they did get on. Stiles had a thing for rom-coms, small animals and with Lydia’s help bright coloured fashion.  
Stiles knew immediately that Lydia was a banshee, she had an aura of grey around her and whenever she raised her voice he saw the violet and black that showed her natural magic. He didn’t tell her about it, deciding to keep her away from the supernatural for as long as possible.  
Apart from Lydia, there were a few other supernatural creatures who happened to be in their school. There was Sean Walcott who was also in their year, he was a Wendigo, the same as the rest of his family. Despite their cannibalistic nature, the family were very peaceful, Mr Walcott taught yoga and was a therapist for crying out loud. Though that didn’t stop the Sheriff calling on them once just to remind them not to kill anyone in order to eat. Apparently there was a Wendigo council who had some system in place about it all; who knew. There was also a kitsune by the name of Kira who had moved to Beacon Hills with her father after her mother was killed by a Nogitsune in revenge for something during World War 2. The last person was a quiet guy named Roy Hagen whose presence in a room was a relief for Stiles, he didn’t emit anything at all, just took it all in into a swirling midnight blue cloud. Stiles thought he might be a Púca, a shapeshifting spirit, what gave it away was his very small extra ears that he kept hidden in his dark tousled hair.  
The calm that Stiles had tried to maintain with the help and support of his father was dashed to smithereens when his friend, of sorts, Scott, was bitten by a rogue Alpha whilst out at a party in the preserve to celebrate the end of the first week of school. Stiles had thought it would be a nice party, just some booze and some music and friends but it turned out to be a bit more than he could handle. Alcohol in the other students was messing up his vision as more and more was consumed and emotions changed and connections randomly formed as people got beer goggles. Scott had wandered off to go to the loo and had gotten bitten by a rogue alpha whilst away from the party. Stiles noticed the sickly green and silver with a tint of red that was the rogue alpha before he could stop his friend from wandering off into the trees. All of his careful planning and secret-keeping to avoid the discovery of the supernatural was dashed in less than a few minutes. Luckily he managed to get Scott back to his house where he called his dad.  
“Dad, we have a problem…”  
“A we run out of Pizza problem or a glowing problem?”  
“How did you know?”  
“Because I just shot him, he is dead.”  
“Well that was fast”  
“You are not the only Stilinski with some mojo son.”  
“We are going to have to call them aren’t we?”  
“It is their territory, they need to come back”

±

Noah sighed. ‘Why do I have to do this?’ He picked up the phone he kept in his locked Sheriff’s draw. Ever since his son had shown him his abilities he had made a point of having a phone with the contact details of every Supernatural being in beacon county loaded onto it at hand. Some 120 odd supernatural beings who lived as humans lived in the county, the largest contingent being Satomi Ito’s Pack but there were others like the Walcott’s, the Yukimura’s, there were a few elves who lived in huts near the mountains, even a phoenix who lived near the library. He didn’t need them now though.  
He dialled the number.  
“Hello”  
“Hello, this is Sheriff Stilinski of Beacon Hills. It is time for you to come back, Peter. We need the Hale Pack to return.”  
“We will be there in three days.”  
The call ended with a click.  
Time for the supernatural to return once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My thanks go to SourwolfSeblaine who helped me so much with the ideas and the writing over the past few days. They have helped me with bouncing ideas and development and also helped me form this story into something that is very OOC and AU but I am enjoying more because of it. Thank you SourwolfSeblaine

**The Colour of Life 2**

**Thanks to[SourwolfSeblaine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourwolfSeblaine/pseuds/SourwolfSeblaine) for the massive amount of help and inspiration for this work.**

Stiles awake to the doorbell ringing downstairs. Since the biting of Scott on Friday night everything in the town had been pretty quiet. Stiles had spent his Saturday going shopping with Lydia. When he first told his father he was going to shop with Lydia, he had just laughed at him whilst looking him up and down in his oversized plaid and jeans. Fast-forward to now and the shopping trips between Lydia and Stiles had become a regular occurrence and a moment of terror for any shop assistant in Beacon County. Lydia was demanding and elegant in every single way, including in the various fashion outlets in the city. Despite having been shopping yesterday Stiles still didn’t enjoy being woken up at eight am on a Sunday. He knew his father was at work until nine so he quickly threw off the covers and ran down the stairs to open the door to the increasingly incessant ring of their doorbell. Throwing open the door without even looking to check who it was.

“Yes. What on earth is it?”

“Ah. You must be Stiles. Please to meet you” was all the handsome gentleman said before smoothly stepping into the house and going to the kitchen. A dark brooding man followed quickly after him.

“Whaa…. Who the hell are you?” Stiles quickly closed the door and was running into the kitchen to see the first man already helping himself to a coffee from the pot. The darker man was already sat down at the table, he had taken off his leather jacket leaving him in a tight red v-neck that showed off his impressive physique.

“Peter Hale at your service. And the brooding one is Derek Hale, my nephew. Your father asked us to come to visit and stay to help him”

Stiles let his gift come to the surface. The two men had shining auras around them, Peter’s was a beautiful silver and emerald green ‘ _ Ha. Slytherin’  _ whereas Derek was a rich burgundy added to his moonlight silver.

“You’re Wolves. You’re the Hale Pack, arent you?”

“What is left of it, Yes. How could you tell?

“Mine to know, and your’s not to find out” smirked Stiles over his shoulder as he also got himself a cup of coffee.

“Well I know for a fact that you are human, you don’t smell of anything other than human. Both of your parents are human. Colour me impressed. When does your father get home?”

“In about an hour. Want to watch TV whilst we wait?”

“Only if there are cartoons for Derek here.” The growl from the otherwise silent broody man was loud and threatening. Peter just smirked back.   
  
±

“Stiles. I’m home.” Noah came into the house, looking into the lounge where he saw Peter and Stiles sitting watching a cooking show. Derek was sat reading a book, or to be more precisely the dictionary. 

“Hey, Kiddo... Peter, a pleasure to see you again. Derek, I am glad to see you looking much improved from the last time we met.”

“I have gotten better Sheriff, thank you for the recommendation for the therapist” replied Derek.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t be here for three days.”

“The plane didn’t take as long to book as we thought. So tell me what has happened in the territory” Peter’s eyes flashed a brilliant blue.

“In the years you have been gone there have been a few threats through the area. A few rogue omegas or the enraged nymph when that new development was built. Nothing we couldn’t handle too easily. Having a hellhound on staff with me helps a lot. However, this time a rogue alpha came through, bit a teenager, Scott McCall on Friday, I had to call.”

“What can you tell me about McCalm”

“McCall is a sophomore at BHHS, the mother is a nurse at the hospital, and the father is an FBI agent in Virginia. He is a good kid but not very bright, severely asthmatic but still tries to play lacrosse, much to Melissa’s annoyance. Work’s with Dr Deaton as he wants to be a vet.”

“Oh joy. It sounds like McCold is going to be a ball of fun. We are lucky we have a few days till the full moon, hopefully, he can learn some control by then. If not I suggest using the wolfsbane chains.”

“Also, another problem… He is dating an Argent” Peter and Derek immediately recoiled and snarled at the mention of the name.

“He can’t be pack.” Derek snarled around his fangs, ”I will not have an Argent dating a wolf in the pack”

“Doesn’t Peter get to decide?” queried Stiles, despite knowing the answer already, it didn't serve to have them know about his unique abilities

“Whilst I am older, I am not the Alpha, and even if we weren’t a democratic pack I would not want that anywhere near us. We work as a democracy, like any normal modern pack. The idea that an Alpha has the right to decide everything is not how we ever worked. Sure we have always had an Alpha, Talia was ours before the fire, and my father before her we have always treated the pack as equal regardless of species or rank. I also won’t have a wolf who is dating an Argent in the pack.”

“You know he will turn feral if he doesn’t have an anchor, right?” said Noah as he swiped his face with a hand. He turned to face Stiles, trying to figure out if his son knew anything.

“Well, he had better learn one fast and stop himself going feral, or find another pack.”

Stiles coughed before speaking up,

“So you are a pack of two?” He could see that they weren’t. The two wolves in front of him had strong bonds to each other and a third one going off to the south, along with two weaker bonds leading from Peter elsewhere.

“No, we are a pack of three. Cora is in LA at the moment, she is visiting a friend” Stiles filed away the information about the two other bonds to consider later. “She will be joining us tomorrow when she finishes visiting the gallery she wanted to see with her friend.”

“Where will you be living now that you are back? And what will you be doing?” was Noah’s next question.

“We had the old house demolished a year back, it is now a memorial garden next to our new house.”

“You rebuilt your house? How did I not notice?”

“Best not ask Sheriff. But, yes we had that all rebuilt, it is smaller than the old one but still this is our home and we want to be back. As for myself, I am going to open a branch of my law practise here, maybe do some work helping out the community as well. I know Cora has to go to school, so she will be joining Stiles”

“And you Derek?”

“Um... “ The younger man looked at his feet “ Um… I am an artist” he said almost bashfully.

“What kind of art?” interrupted Stiles

“I do abstract and wildlife mostly. I got a show in New York before we left but they said I can continue from here as long as I send them regular stuff.” Stiles watched as the air around Derek turned steel blue with tangerine layers through it. Stiles hadn’t expected to see those colours coming off the younger Hale; internal security and optimism. ‘ _ Seems Derek’s art is more than just a living’ _ .

“That’s cool. I just wonder how we proceed from here on out, We need to deal with Scott.”

“Well he is your friend Stiles, what do you suggest we do?” asked Noah. Stiles just snorted.

“Friends? I wouldn’t call us friends per se, he is dating Allison, who is Lydia’s friend so I sometimes talk to him.”

“Well can you get him here so we can talk to him and explain what we need to before he gets someone killed?”

“Okay, I will text him and tell him to come over” Stiles already had his phone out messaging Scott  **‘Can you come over, need to talk to you. S”**

“Okay, let’s just wait and see when he gets here.”

**±**

The Sheriff took Peter to his office whilst they waited for Scott to arrive.

“I am not a Sheriff for no reason you know. I swore to protect every citizen of Beacon County when I took this office. So, tell me what you need.”

“Is this room soundproofed?” John just raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay then. Well, we have our home again and the jobs and school will be sorted by tomorrow. I don’t know if you perhaps know of a therapist in the know do you?”

“I am guessing this is for all of you or is it for Derek?

“How did you know?”

“Sheriff with a hyperactive and nosy child. I figured it out just a day before Stiles, and I only managed that because I have police access to files.”

“How did Stiles figure it out?”

“What? The fact that Kate seduced Derek into giving him the intel on your pack whilst raping a traumatised teenager? He is smart like that.”

“You two are a mystery I am desperate to solve”

“Keep trying Hale, my son can run in circles around you without even trying”

“And you?”

“I have a gun with wolfsbane and mistletoe bullets and a license to carry”

“Fair point”

±

The four men were sat in the living room for about thirty minutes before they heard the sound of Scott’s dirtbike pull up outside the Stilinksi household. Even before the teen knocked on the door Peter and Derek were already grimacing at the smell of wolfsbane and gun oil coming off the boy.

“Oh, this is going to be fun” snarked Peter.

As soon as Scott knocked on the door the Sheriff got up and lead him into the living room.

“So Scott how are you? Anything you want to tell us about?”

“I’m not in trouble am I?”

“No… We are just curious”

“Who is ‘We”?” asked Scott whilst he glared at Peter and Derek. Stiles just looked on from his seat, noting the change in Scotts normal orange to an orange colour thread through with silver.

“Scott, these two men are Peter and Derek Hale. They are here to help me explain some stuff to you. From what I figured out you were attacked in the forest on Friday night weren't you?”

“How did you know about that? Do you know what did it? It hurt like hell”

“The thing that bit you was a werewolf. A rogue, but also an Alpha. It means you are going to turn into a werewolf.”

“Ha, yeah right, werewolves are real. What next? Soon you are going to be telling me vampire and fairies exist.”

“Oh, Vampires do exist. Just not here. California is a bit too sunny for them, they prefer living in Canada. Though I do know a couple who live in LA. Also never ever say fairy. Not unless you enjoy being the target of massive pranks or all-out war that the fae would unleash on you for the insult.”

“Prove it then,” Peter just nodded and shifted his face into his beta shift along with his eyes flaring up to their supernatural blue.

“Okay, I believe you. So I am going to turn into that?”

“Less of the that, thank you. The name is Peter. And yes you will. That’s if the bite doesnt kill you first.”

“It can kill me?!”

“Yes,” replied Derek, looking increasingly annoyed. “About a 50% chance. However, you will survive. I can already smell it on you. The smell of a pup.”

“I’m not a Pup,”

“You are to me. I have been a wolf for 30 years I can tell you that to me you are a pup. Same to Derek. He has been a wolf since birth as well. You are a newly turned wolf, you are going to need to learn to control your powers and your abilities, and fast. The full moon is not far off.”

“Whatever, I am fine. I can hear a bit better but nothing much. I will be fine”

“Give it twenty-four hours and you will be overwhelmed and you will hurt somebody”

“I would never hurt anybody.”

“You say that now. Just wait until you hurt one of your friends” deadpanned Derek.

“We can teach you to control your abilities and go from there”

“I don’t need some creep hanging around me. I am going home” shouted Scott as he ran out fo the house.

“Well that could have gone a lot better.” muttered Peter “What should we do now?”

“I’ll try an convince him to accept your help, and if not I will help you tie him up myself” replied Stiles, “I am not letting him expose the supernatural, there are too many people at stake just in this town let alone the world if he gets stupid and exposes the supernatural”

“If? I think it may be a matter of when more than if” said the Sheriff shaking his head, “Of all the people why did this alpha have to bit him? Couldn’t it be someone smart and sensible like Lydia Martin?”

“Wouldn’t have worked. She is a banshee, they are immune to the bite,” said Stiles. Peter just looked at him curiously.

“How do you know that she is a banshee?”

“Mine to know, and your’s not to find out” was the only response the wolf got as Stiles walked out of the lounge and back to his room.

“Truly Sheriff, your family is a mystery”

“Thank you, I will tell Stiles that, he will take it as a great compliment” smirked the Sheriff over his coffee cup

“Not what I meant”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora and Stiles go to school and a secret is revealed.

It was early the next morning as Stiles and the Sheriff were just cooking breakfast that a knock on their door followed by its opening and the three Hales walking into their house. The Stilinski’s just continued and added more plates to the table.

“Morning Peter, Derek. And I guess you must be Cora.” Noah said when he sat down.

“Yes.”

“You are such a Hale,” muttered Stiles under his voice. Cora growled at him. Stiles just waved it off.

“It is too early for all this wolf growling nonsense. I need coffee before I can deal with a pack of wolves in my kitchen. Well, our kitchen.” Noah had coughed noticeably. Stiles went of to the side and brought back two cups of coffee, one black and the other one with hazelnut and whipped cream. He placed the latter in front of Cora before sitting down.

“How did you know my coffee order?” she asked in a shocked voice.

“For me to know and for you not to find out,” smirked Stiles back at her. Derek just rolled his eyes. Peter gave a pointed look at Noah, who shrugged in response

“What does that mean?”

“I know more about you just by looking at you than you will ever know about me. I could tell you would be a hazelnut latte kind of gal. Peter was now smirking into his cereal whilst Derek was sniggering behind the newspaper he had brought with him.

“I suppose that you will be going to school with Stiles today then Cora.”

“Um. Yeah. I guess we are in the same year so will probably see each other around.”

“Oh, you are in all of my classes. That means you get to become my new best friend along with Lydia. You will like her I am sure.” Stiles’ eyes sparkled mysteriously. “Anyway, we have to get going otherwise we are going to be late for first period; politics.” Stiles sprang to his feet and quickly left through the front door with Cora following behind him at a more sedate pace.

“Sheriff are you ever going to tell me what your son is?” queried Peter

“Nope. I think I will see how long it takes you to piece it all together. I give Cora two days before she solves it. I look forward to seeing you kick yourself for not realising it faster.”

~~~~~~

Cora had suffered threw the hell that was three periods of boring high school, politics then double maths. Whilst she had thought that the school would be a boring, small-town high school with the cliche cliques and catty gossip from any teen drama it was a pleasant surprise to find a school that smelled of supernatural energy and creatures. She had sat next to Stiles through all her classes and seen first hand how smart the boy was. She had also noticed that his behaviour had changed, all of a sudden he had started to get slightly manic and distracted as his eyes darted around the room and he doodled a mix of shaps, answers and notes all over his notebook. He seemed to have some sort of manic energy that he had lacked at his home. Cora was officially curious as to who Stiles Stilinski really was. She didn’t even know his name and that annoyed her almost more.

When lunch came Stiles guided her to his table in the Cafeteria where he introduced her to his friends. There was a blond boy who looked like he was permanently sneering called Jackson, a smiling handsome Hawaiin boy called Danny, a tall curly-haired guy with a scarf who was introduced as Isaac and to round it off the strawberry-blond girl who hugged Stiles upon seeing him was introduced as Lydia. Cora took one look at her and caught a whiff of her smell and she was hooked. This girl was hers. This girl was her mate. Her moon. Stiles sat down before smirking and offering a wink to Cora, he mouthed “I told you so,” before swivelling to face Danny and ask about his new boyfriend. Danny had long since gotten over Stiles seemingly knowing everything about everyone so immediately started recounting how his new boyfriend had taken him out to a lovely Italian restaurant last night before asking him out. Cora had been enjoying listening to Lydia talk and was happily discussing her life in New York when she smelt the pup that Peter and Derek had warned her about. A brown-haired boy was standing glaring at them from across the room. Stiles followed her eyes to look at Scott.

“Ah yes… That is Scott. He is Allison’s boyfriend. Allison is one of Lydia’s friends.” Cora quirked an eyebrow in question. Stiles nodded and a frown marred his face as Allison appeared beside Scott and they started to walk over. Cora could smell the gun oil on the girl and could see that behind the dimpled smile there was a hunter who wouldn’t hesitate to put down any supernatural.

Lydia had turned to Allison as soon as she had sat down, Scott also sitting next to her, he resolutely stayed glaring at Stiles. Stiles seemed completely unaffected by the wolf now looking at him, instead seemingly engrossed in texting on his phone with one hand whilst talking to Isaac about his new job as a volunteer at the care home. Cora sat and took it all in. This group of people were a curious mix. There was something unique and powerful about this mix of people. Stiles knew too much. Lydia was a beautiful magical person with simmering power, there was strange energy coming off of Jackson, Danny seemed calm… too calm… there was a hunter and newly turned wolf all at the table. Isaac was normal. So very normal on a table of Others that she thought there must be something hidden there too. Cora resolved to keep an eye on Stiles for the foreseeable future until she figures it out.

~~~~~~

It was now Friday and Cora was sat in Stiles sitting room whilst Derek was out in the garden. The Hales despite having their own house out in the preserve seemed to gravitate towards Stiles’ home. Cora, once she had gotten past the sarcastic exterior, had found a kindred soul in Stiles. He was loyal, funny and unbelievably smart. He seemed to have a level of understanding what to say and when to say it. He had this certain ability that Cora couldn’t put her finger on.

“Are you Psychic? Like a Telepath?”

“Hahaha, no. I am not a telepath. I can’t read your thoughts.”

“Clairvoyant? You always seem to get distracted when around people. Like at school. You always get agitated and angsty…” At this Stiles looked up, a slightly startled facial expression on his normally passive face.

“Oh… I am getting close. You smell startled and surprised. I am closer than Peter then. He suggested that you were a medium who spoke to ghosts.”

“Nope. I don’t see dead people. I think that would creep me out.” Derek had walked into the living room drinking a bottle of water, some paint on his face from where he had been painting on the decking. 

“Der, help me figure it out. I have been trying all week, and if I get it before Peter he loses the bet.”

“You bet on who can figure out what I am first? I am insulted.” Stiles said with an outraged expression which quickly mutated into a sly grin, “How much was it worth?”

“I think they bet $100 on who could get closest before you revealed it, and $500 if they got it bang on.” smiled Derek. “I should have gotten in on the bet. I would have won already.”

“What?!” Cora spluttered

“Really? You think you know what I am Sourwolf?”

“Oh, I know what you are.” Derek winked and sauntered out of the sitting room towards the kitchen.”

~~~~~~

Stiles had been sat in the sitting room when Cora had suddenly come out with the idea that he was psychic. He glanced at her. Her normal silver and red had a dark whisp of ruby that showed her confidence, but a faint haze of yellow that showed her uncertainty. 

“Hahaha, no. I am not a telepath. I can’t read your thoughts.” Though he was impressed that she was getting into the right area of power. Peter had recently guessed part fae. Cora seemed to be more insightful than he gave her credit for. Stiles didn’t even know exactly where his powers came from or how exactly they worked so for her to get that close was impressive.

“Clairvoyant? You always seem to get distracted when around people. Like at school. You always get agitated and angsty…” Stiles was startled. She was so so close. He was going to have to be more careful around her. How had she managed to figure out so much in just a week of knowing him?

“Oh… I am getting close. You smell startled and surprised. I am closer than Peter then. He suggested that you were a medium who spoke to ghosts.” Stiles had to admit… interesting idea os a possible cause of his knowledge.

“Nope. I don’t see dead people. I think that would creep me out.” Stiles tried to use his pop culture knowledge to distract from his nervousness and his slight alarm that she could be so close to it all. Derek had entered the room and he was adorably covered in paint. Stiles had gotten to know the closed off wolf and had learned that he was a shy, kindhearted person who hid behind his gruff exterior. The fact that the muscular, dark-haired, broody guy had a smear of blue paint on his cheek and a white dollop on his forehead just added to the amount of adorable that Stiles saw. 

“Der, help me figure it out. I have been trying all week, and if I get it before Peter he loses the bet.” Cora was trying to use her puppy dog eyes on her brother. It seemed he was having none of it, if the sceptical look on his face was anything to go by.

“You bet on who can figure out what I am first? I am insulted.” Stiles pretended to be outraged, but he already knew they had made a bet, he even knew that his father and Peter had a competition on who would manage to figure it out first. Then a sly thought came to mind, “How much was it worth?”. Stiles thought maybe he would give one of them clues and then split the profit, he needed a new X-Box game. “How much is it worth?” a smirk already on his face.

“I think they bet $100 on who could get closest before you revealed it, and $500 if they got it bang on.” smiled Derek. “I should have gotten in on the bet. I would have won already.” Stiles was startled, he could see Derek’s colours swirling around him. The white aura of truth was actually startling. Derek actually thought he had it. He thought he was telling the truth. No… he believed he was telling the truth. Stiles was momentarily mesmerised by Derek’s aura, how the burgundy, silver and white all merged so perfectly around the wolf.

“What?!” Cora spluttered. A sickly orange of annoyance surrounded her. Stiles immediately knew to try to diffuse the situation before the orange turned to an angry red

“Really? You think you know what I am Sourwolf?” Stiles was actually a bit afraid that Derek knew about his power. His new nickname would hopefully annoy Derek enough to get off this particular tangent.

“Oh, I know what you are.” Derek winked and sauntered out of the sitting room towards the kitchen. Stiles ran after him. He couldn’t have Derek ruining his fun. Just before he left the sitting room he did something he rarely did; he forced a feeling at Cora. The deep blue of exhaustion and tiredness, speckled with white dreams. She was asleep before he even got into the kitchen.

“What the hell was that Derek? Do you think you know me? Do you think you know about my power? So do please tell me what it is a born wolf would know about me?” Stiles was angry and afraid of someone knowing.

“I do know you. I have known you since I step through that door. You are mine. You’re my mate. I know because I am the same. The colours. The beauty. The wonder. I cant see as much as you but I can see it. You talk around it. I paint because of it. We are the same. You and me. The two who see the colours of life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, this fic took a sudden turn. I am now writing a Sterek fic with a side of Cora/Lydia. I don't know what happened but that is what will be happening. Sorry for Steter shippers. I love Steter but this one ended up being a Sterek.
> 
> Also thanks to @SamaelSphinx for inspiring me to write again


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